The American journal of medicine
-
Review
Renal Artery Denervation for the Management of Hypertension: Current Trends and Future Direction.
Renal artery denervation has re-emerged as a potential therapeutic option for patients with hypertension, especially those resistant to conventional pharmacotherapy. This comprehensive review explores the importance of careful patient selection, procedural techniques, clinical efficacy, safety considerations, and future directions of renal artery denervation in hypertension management. Drawing upon a wide range of available evidence, this review aims to provide a thorough understanding of the procedure and its role in contemporary hypertension treatment paradigms.
-
Review
Management of Clostridioides difficile infection: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Future Perspectives.
Clostridioides difficile infection is the most common healthcare-associated infection in the United States, with potential life-threatening complications and a significant impact on the costs of care. Antibiotic stewardship as well as discontinuation of chronic acid suppressive therapy are key for its prevention and treatment. Effective infection management requires appropriate interpretation of diagnostic tests, as well as the use of vancomycin and fidaxomicin as first-line treatment. Novel treatments such as Bezlotoxumab, fecal microbiota transplant, and live biotherapeutic products are proven effective in recurrent C. difficile infection and address dysbiosis.
-
The concomitant stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus and the substantia nigra pars reticulata is a promising approach to improve treatment of refractory axial symptoms in Parkinson's disease. While dual stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus and the substantia nigra pars reticulata has previously shown beneficial effects on gait, the role of the substantia nigra, a crucial component of the basal ganglia circuitry, in cognitive functions such as attention and executive control remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the impact of selective substantia nigra pars reticulata stimulation on attentional performance in patients receiving standard deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. ⋯ Our findings provide further evidence for the pivotal role of the substantia nigra pars reticulata in cognitive functions such as attention. Despite the limitations of the study, including a small sample size, our results suggest potential benefits of simultaneous deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus and the substantia nigra pars reticulata on attentional performance in patients with Parkinson's disease. Further research with larger cohorts is warranted to confirm these findings and better understand the underlying mechanisms.